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Transcript

Transcript:

Presenter: The average American produces 4.3lbs (four point three pounds) of trash a day. That’s almost sixteen hundred pounds a year but if we took some simple steps we could go off the trash grid and minimise thousands of pounds of waste into just a single jar!

Going off Grid

Lauren Singer: So, this is my trash jar.

Presenter:Two years of trash in this tiny little jar.

Lauren: Yep!

Presenter: That’s crazy. I mean I probably produce twenty times this much in a day.

Lauren:Yep. This is everything basically that I couldn’t compost or couldn’t recycle or couldn’t figure out what to do with.

Presenter: Where did you get this idea to become zero waste?

Lauren: Erm, it kind of all started when I was a senior and in NYU and I was starting environmental studies. And one day after class I went home to make dinner and I opened my fridge and I saw that everything in there was packaged in plastic and I felt such a hypocrite. We’re supposed to be saving the planet and here you are making all of this trash. I feel like it’s really important to live your values and my values are having a really low environmental impact. I have to live like I want that. And so that’s why I’ve decided to change my lifestyle.

Presenter: What was the easiest part about reducing your waste?

Lauren: I think it was just like seeing that I didn’t have to do that much to produce very little waste and by composting and buying in bulk I essentially eliminated eighty per cent of my waste. Buying package-free means needing to have containers to buy things that you can’t hold with your hands. For instance I buy bulk olive oil, I bring a mason jar to fill it up. I’ll pick up some beer from a local shop that sells it in growlers that are actually reusable so that’s like a totally waste-free way to drink.

Presenter: I imagine you get asked a lot of questions about ‘how do you do this?’ I’m curious about a few things …

Lauren: OK.

Presenter: I’m going to throw out a few things too.

Lauren: Sure!

Presenter: Plastic toothbrushes?

Lauren: I use a compostable bamboo toothbrush.

Presenter: Sponges?

Lauren: I use a compostable dish brush.

Presenter: Paper towels?

Lauren: Cotton napkins.

Presenter: Plastic cookware?

Lauren: Wooden or stainless steel utensils.

Presenter: Cotton balls?

Lauren: Reusable cotton rounds.

Presenter:Drier sheets?

Lauren: Drier balls that I make myself.

Presenter: What about shampoo?

Lauren:Bulk castrol soap.

Presenter: Make-up?

Lauren: Organic vegan make-up in recyclable packaging.

Presenter: Feminine products?

Lauren:Menstrual cup.

Presenter: Gift wrap?

Lauren: Why?

Presenter:OK, so you are going to teach me how to make toothpaste.

Lauren: Yes!

Presenter:What do I do?

Lauren: So we are going to mix two tablespoons of organic coconut oil and then a tablespoon of baking soda and then about twenty drops of the organic peppermint oil.

Presenter:So this is how you make your toothpaste?

Lauren: Ah hem!

Presenter: Let me see your teeth! They look very nice!

Lauren: Eh yeah!

Presenter: What does your dentist think about this?

Lauren: They haven’t gotten mad at me yet so ...!

Presenter:Ha ha!

Lauren:So, I’ll just take this spoon and scoop it onto my toothbrush.

Presenter: Hee hee. It’s not bad, actually it’s kinda salty!

Lauren: Yeah! That’s the baking soda.

Presenter: Yeah, my teeth really do feel cleaner … so …

Lauren: Yeah …

Presenter: … thank you. So do you have any garbage cans in your home here?

Lauren:No, I don’t have any garbage cans in my home.

Presenter: Because you don’t have any garbage?

Lauren: Exactly!

Presenter: It really does compel me to want to try to reduce my waste so what tips would you give me or somebody else that wants to do that as well?

Lauren: Yeah, I would suggest, you know, look in your garbage can and see what your garbage is and until you do that you don’t really know what you’re reducing, right? Step 2. Using a reusable bag instead of plastic or paper bag. Just like, easy one-time changes and then the last one would be to actually make your products yourself. So learn how to make toothpaste, learn how to make deodorant. It’s a really fun thing to do.

Presenter: What is your ultimate goal?

Lauren: Before I lived my lifestyle I wonder why is there all this trash, and why is that OK and we have to find the solutions before it gets out of control. I’ve never told anyone, 'Oh you should live this lifestyle' or 'You have to live this way'. Erm, I kind of live my lifestyle and put it out there and see what happens.

Discussion

Comments

I myself actually don't pay attention to how much me and my family waste trash, like I just throw and don't think about were it end up and stuff. Like this video girl me think about it a little and like it's cool. I think what she is doing is really cool. I could never be able to do that I am to lazy. So yeah, but I think it's a really good exapel and if more people did that it would maybe change some stuff.

I don't really think about it too much, but I think we produce around the average amount of trash. My family focuses more on the origin of the food and how long the transport for the food has been. I definitively think we could reduce our waste though. We probably use way more plastic bags than we need to. We reuse plastic bags but we could get more reusable and longer lasting bags that they sell in a lot of food stores.

I really admire the lifestyle and I wish I had the determination to do the same. But even though I won't change my lifestyle completely I can make som changes to reduce the amount of trash I produce, like reducing the amount of plastic food packaging that I throw away for example and also reducing the consumption of other short lived plastic products. One person can't do everything but everyone can do something and together we can reduce the trash and emission of greenhouse gases

I would actually say that I’ve never really thought about how much waste me and my family produce. It would be interesting to see how much in percent that is. I guess that we are not an eco-friendly family. It’s very impressive to see Lauren’s lifestyle. I would probably not live like that and make my own products. But I could do easy changes like using fabric bags, which is a very good way both environmentally but also economically.

I've never really thought about it but I'm a hundred percent sure that me and my family produces a lot of waste daily although we do recycle it so that we don't destroy the environment.
Lauren on the other hand is doing much much better when it comes to waste. It's incredible to see how much you can do for the environment by just thinking right. That tiny jar is a great achievement dedication in my opinion. I wish everyone actually would live like this but sadly it is probably never going to happen.

I haven’t really thought about how much waste my family and I produce before. I am the one in my family who usually takes out the trash. Therefore I’ve thought about that there is a lot of things we just throw out. I have been wondering how we can produce that much trash in just a couple of days.

I think Lauren's initiative is great and I wish more people would follow her example. I also think she’s very creative for coming up with these eco-friendly solutions. I personally don’t know if I could live like her but I could definitely adapt to some of her tips.

What do you think about Lauren's lifestyle?
I don't want to think about it because i know it's going to make me feel very bad. But yes sometimes when i'm taking out the trash and i know what it is we are throwing away i have to think about it. We use so much plastic boxes, plastic bags and the worst of all how much food we actually trow away is insane. I love that there are people that actually live like there is going to be a day tomorrow is great. I wish my family could adjust to this life style, but i have a brother that could never change his way of life. But living alone like she does probably makes it easier to live like this. No one can tell you that you can't do it.

I personally doesn't keep track of how much me and my family is throwing away as trash, but i wouldn't mind doing it if my parents asked me.
Laurens' life style is actually impressive, I wouldn't be able to do everything she does. I'd probably give up because it would be too hard.

I feel like my family mostly recycles when there is an outside motive such as money. This is probably an effect of people not putting enough pressure on each other, a common myth is that large industries are to be held responsible for our current environmental issues. While that is partially true I believe that it is more beneficial to hold the general masses more accountable as well. Though I would guess that my family takes more responsibility than many other international families, for example, the average Swedish household recycles more than the average American.

As for Lauren's lifestyle, it is beneficial for our shared environment. It might even encourage others to do something similar. But I think it would be way more effective in the long run if we encouraged a low-scale green lifestyle to begin with. That way people could start off doing simpler things, and when they get used to that you can suggest implementing a more environmentally beneficial lifestyle little by little.

I have sometimes thought about how much waste we throw away each day but I have never really thought about what we can do to reduce the amount of stuff we throw away. I didn't even know you could produce only that amount of waste in two years.
I think Lauren's lifestyle is a really good lifestyle for the environment but I also think it is a hard lifestyle to live and it would be hard if everyone tried to follow this lifestyle. I also think that she is inspiring to make you do some changes with your life so that you stop producing waste, it doesn't have to be as extreme but a change to use reusable bags is an easy change to do and is really good for the environment.

Yes, I think a lot about how much waste me and my family create.
I honestly think that we throw things that can be recycled way too much, but I think that we're good at not buy plastic bags and other plastic.

Personally I get very inspired when I see how Lauren's lifestyle is. It really is amazing and in the future I'd like to do the same.

No, I don't really think about it that much. Of course, I make sure that I don't need to throw something away before I do, but that's about it. My family most likely don't contribute to that much waste being thrown out, although I can't say for sure.
Regardless, I think Lauren is absolutely amazing, and the fact that she thought out such brilliant ways to reduce her waste is really cool. A lot more people need to take a few tips from this woman.

Even though I should, I've never put a serious thought into how much waste my family produces. It's incredible how good Lauren is to the environment. I don't usually get much inspired by things like this but Lauren really sets a good example on how to be. It's definitely not all that hard to follow her example, It's just that we need to step out of our comfort zone. Lauren's lifestyle is one that everyone should work towards.

I have never really dug deep on how much waste me and my family produce. Since we live in Sweden, it is probably a little less than the average American as we don't put all goods in plastic wrap, and we do reuse a lot of plastic bags and stuff like that. But still, I bet we trow away a lot more than needed. I think the was Lauren lives is impressive. I would not want to go as far as to make my own toothpaste, but buying in bulk and using fabric bags are easy changes to make.

I haven´t really thought about how much waste my family actually is creating, and I don´t think anyone in my family have thought about it either. I have had it on my mind sometimes, but I have never really reflected over it. But after I have seen this video I have a new perspective.
I think Lauren`s lifestyle is very inspiring and it is amazing how little waste she is creating on two years. Laura have really inspired me and I think we can learn a lot from her!

I think that Laurens lifestyle is good for the environment. I have not paid so much attention about it before i saw this video. I think it could bee difficult to produce so little garbage with a family on 8 (:

I think that Lauren's lifestyle is amazing. She is a person who we should admire. I'm vey impressed, becouse my family probably produces 15 times this much in a day then she produced within 2 years.
I think that everybody should try Lauren's methods for at least a week. This method can help reduce the production of waste in the world.

I think, that Lauren's lifestyle is really great. She produces as little rubbish as she can and I think it is rather difficult to do this, especially for me, because I don't like meet or vegetables. So I usually eat some prepared products from the supermarket and always have a lot of rubbish like plastic bags or tins. Likely, my family is not so fastidious. Of course, I understand, that isn't good for the environmental and try to minimize all this garbage. After watching the video, I realize, that people should really begin to think about this problem, otherwise the humanity will soon poison our planet.

I think Lauren is very awesome. The waste she created in two years just a little jar. I and my family can't do like her because the waste we make in a day is much more than her. Although we have make much wastes, we also have to recycle the things that can reuse. I think that we can learn some methods from Lauren of how to treats the waste. It can reduce many waste

I think that I and my family waste don't veru much ,but we can be create zero waste in our home and in the street because when each other create zero waste we creat the clean streets,parks.houses and our air will be cleaner and we will live better.I think about Lauren's lifestyle that she is make our streets,her home zero waste because she doesn't use plastic things, sponges,plastic cookware,cotton balls,drier sheets,paper towels and she use only organic things because she cares about our planet,streets,air and our cities!!!

I usually don't think about how much waste me and my family create, but sometimes I do. But after watching this video and seeing how Lauren lives will definitely make me think about it more often and I might perhaps even change my lifestyle and try to recycle more and just try to produce as minimal thrash as possible. Me and my family are already recycling quite a bit, for example we separate the thrash as good as we can, we donate clothes that are too small or that we don't wear anymore etc.

Lauren's lifestyle is incredible! Really impressive how she produced one jar of rubbish in two years! More people should try to be as Lauren and hopefully she has inspired loads of people with her lifestyle.

In some ways I´ve always paid attention to how much waste i create myself, but I dont think that I´m aware of how much me and my family create together and now that I am, it´s going to bother me because I haven´t changed our ways handeling this sooner. But I think that we are better than the most, because we do recycle out trash most of the time but the problem is that we don´t pay attention to how much trash we have and how much we trow away.

I really do think that Lauren´s lifestyle is admirable and that she could be a really good role model for the rest of us. If she can do it, we can too! I think that we all should see the world and environment like she does because everyone aren´t aware of how much we affect the world by throwing that much trash. If we could understand the importance of this problem we could work better to change the way it is right now!

Personally I have never thought about the waste I produce and as a vegan it really does bother me. I am vegan because i am against animal cruelty and many other reasons, but I am also a vegan too help save the planet one day from the green house gases. So knowing that all this time I was a vegan and I could not even reduce my trash a little is hard. As a conclusion I have a lot of respect for Laurel and her lifestyle. :)

Well, to think about how much waste me and my family create isn't the first thing I'm thinking of. Like the most, we do recycle pretty much, especially when it comes to newspaper, cardboards and glas. Either myself or my family really think about how much trash that we create, at least not when we are buying new stuff apart from plastic bags. We try as much as possible to bring old plastic bags to the supermarket instead of buying new ones. That's not only because of the environmental things plastic bags cause, it's just don't necessary and you will sooner or later get a surplus.

It is of course good to think about the environment and how we can make it better, but I still do not think is here we should start. I would obviously not take damage if more people act like Lauren, but I do not really see how it can give us any effective consequences. I am not saying it is a bad thing to do, I just question if this is the right way to begin. For me it sounds like she has a pretty gratifying life, and as long as she thinks so, I think it is good!

I don't usually give much thoughts about how much waste my family and I throw away. Now that I think about it I realize that we kind of live in a throw-away society and that we really should try to make a change. I guess my family and I could reduce some plastic packages and stuff like that. I almost every time I go shopping choose a plastic bag instead of cotton, like Lauren mentioned in the video. I really admire Lauren for pursuing a challenge like that. I think it's amazing how she managed to only fill ONE jar of garbage that she could not reduce. That I believe is true superpowers!

I do not often think about how much waste me and my family create. Even though most of us know how important our enviorment is, and how bad all the waste is, we all seem to get caught up in a system where we don't think about it that much. We're used to this lifestyle. Even if I try to think about it, it's kind of hard to process and really understand. People like Lauren really are the ones who save our planet. If everyone would think like her we wouldn't have an enviormental problm this big. I think that we all should live up to our values like her. It is hard to do it because it is a change to a lifestyle that we, as said, are used to. But in the end of the day this is part of the solution to a problem that we have to solve. We need to do things like this to save our planet.

If i would say yes i would sound like a hypocrite because honestly i don't know how much we waste. I like the fact that we recycle but that doesn't make everything better because not using for example plastic is better than recycling. I do however know that we do waste a lot and I wont try to hide that. But we aren't wasting in ridiculous amounts. But my father has high morals when it comes to wasting stuff. He likes things more when its a old working thing more than a new thing. He doesn't believe in the use and throwaway lifestyle. He believe more in "one mans trash is another mans treasure".

But Lauren really did turn a new leaf and changed her lifestyle into something really good. I was very chocked about the numbers a normal person wasted and what she wasted. However that isn't a lifestyle i would like. It is to strict and much thinking about what you do. I would like that most of the things that's being sold should go over to being recycled, organic etc. Living like she does, double checking every product she buys, is not a lifestyle i would like. Also her lifestyle is more expensive than a normal since organic and ecologic stuff is more expensive to buy. She may save money on plastic but for example her toothpaste, i can't believe that her solution would be any more cheaper than normal toothpaste.

I think it´s strong and admirable by Lauren to almost not have any waste at all. It´s good to recycle and to think twice before just throwing things away. But I think she exaggerates it a bit. For example, with her toothpaste. It´s awesome that she´s able to live as she does and that she only has that little jar with trash after two years! I have like, two times as much trash every day...
But it wouldn´t have been good if everyone lived like her. It takes a lot of nature to decompose things and it takes a long time. If everyone would make their gardens into a compost and dump all their food waste and garbage there the result would be eutrophication and nothing would be able to grow.
So, I think it´s awesome that she is capable of being zero-waste and it´s certainly an intresting lifestyle. But I personally wouldn´t be able to live like her. I already recycle and we have a compost at my family´s garden plot. I´m satisfied with my lifestyle and Lauren is satisfied with hers. I think it´s perfect.

I really like the idea of trying to live without producing any waste. I think Lauren’s life style is visionary, because she is managing to live a life producing almost no waste at all. I mean, it is not the vision of producing no waste that is so fantastic – because I think that a lot of have the same vision but can not manage to live like it – the thing is: Lauren can. And that is what makes her lifestyle such a big source of inspiration for many people, because some times one person have to come first and show others where to go.

I do not really think about how much waste my family is creating. We use plastic bags on some days and on other days we use reusable bags, it depends on when we are grocery shopping. We do recycle quite a bit actually, we always recycle soda bottles, cartons, paper and newspaper. We also separate some of our trash. And we donate the clothes that are too small for us, or if we do not use them. I think we are kind of good at not creating too much waste, but we can get a lot better at it.

I think it is great that she is trying to create as little waste as possible! One jar of waste in two years, that is incredible! She is really making a difference and inspiring other people to think about how much waste they are actually creating. Lauren's tips on how to create less waste are actually very good, and we should all try to create as little waste as possible to make the world a better place!